Pastor Epperly records a weekly podcast at faithontheedge.org with the Reverend Steve Kindle, President of Faith on the Edge. These podcasts are part of a series of podcasts with spiritual innovators who are on the leading edge of faithful change. Click on the word “Podcasts” below to link to Faith on the Edge’s podcast site.…
United Church of Christ
Posts by Dr. Bruce Epperly
Isaiah 43:16-21 Psalm 126 Philippians 3:4b-14 John 12:1-8Today’s passages invite us to embrace God’s future while honoring the past. Guided by Christ’s vision, we keep our eyes on the prize, constantly moving ahead. Faith tends towards a type of chaos, an iconoclasm that pushes beyond our institutional structures. But, innovative faith needs to be balanced…
I’m just back from a few days at Mystic, Connecticut, with the three generations of the Epperly family. One of the highpoints of our holiday was taking the grandchildren to the Aquarium and experiencing the wonder of sea lions, sharks, beluga whales, and cownose rays. We even got to touch a shark and some rays! …
(As published by ProgressiveChristianity.org on September 24, 2014) Preaching is a holistic enterprise. When I was recently installed as the pastor of a United Church of Christ Congregation on Cape Cod, the words of the liturgy proclaimed that I was to be Pastor and Teacher for South Congregational Church in Centerville, Massachusetts. I was to…
“God was not in the wind…God was not in the earthquake…God was not in the fire; and after the fire, the sound of sheer silence.” (I Kings 19:11-12) We are people, used to noise and constant communication that often fragments and distracts rather than unites and focuses. At my local Cape Cod market, I sing…
http://www.jesusjazzbuddhism.org/how-jesus-played-jazz-he-followed-the-winds-of-the-spirit.html Jesus is like Jazz and Jazz can be like Jesus. Our lives as Jesus’ companions can be like Jazz, too. Jesus was constantly improvising: every encounter was novel and creative. Jesus had a vision – he dreamed of a world in which everyone belonged, and bodies, minds, and spirits were healthy. Jesus didn’t have…
June 29, 2014 Genesis 22:1-14 Psalm 13 Jeremiah 28:5-9 Romans 6:12-23 Matthew 10:40-42 This week’s stories are all challenging. We need to take exception to the story of Abraham and Isaac to be faithful to the God of grace. Following Christ is ultimately about a life-giving lifestyle, not violence or fear. To be honest, I…
John 20:19-23 Acts 2:1-12 The back to back celebrations of Ascension and Pentecost surely give us something to think about. Incomprehensible to “moderns,” there is a chance that postmodern pluralists might get the wild message of clouds, wind, and fire. But, it won’t be easy, especially if we demand to have worship and church as…
As the pastor of a mid-sized congregation, South Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, on Cape Cod, I am as perplexed as most of my colleagues about how to reach out to twenty and thirty-year-olds in our community. With the exception of the children of long-time members or persons planning to get married at our…
A Response to Slow Church: Cultivating Community in the Patient Way of Jesus, by Christopher Smith and John Pattison In a recent conversation, a young adult noted, “I’m not interested in going to the big church down the road, with its band and big screen. It’s just like the mall. When I go to church, I…